The subject matter discussed in the background section should not be assumed to be prior art merely as a result of its mention in the background section. Similarly, a problem mentioned in the background section or associated with the subject matter of the background section should not be assumed to have been previously recognized in the prior art. The subject matter in the background section merely represents different approaches, which in and of themselves may also correspond to implementations of the claimed technology.
The technology disclosed relates to creating an audit trail of data incorporation in user profiles by linking trust objects to fields of the user profiles. It also relates to maintaining an opt trail that captures user opt-ins by recording the circumstances in which the opt-in actions were performed. It further relates to measuring reputation of product models by assembling consumer feedback from online product reviews and service records of the product models.
The increased use of online social networks has resulted in more and more personal information being shared in the public domain, thus leading to the need to enhance the privacy of users of the online social networks. According to a study published in the June'13 issue of Computer magazine “The privacy management of 16 popular social networking sites, including Facebook and Twitter, is seriously deficient.” From the applicant's perspective, existing privacy controls offered by the online social networks lack the level traceability and transparency required to concurrently develop more user trust while enhancing user experience.
Another problem, particularly in the e-marketing arena, is that consumers will agree to receive advertising of a campaign, and upon receiving the advertising, will repudiate their consent. Currently, service providers receive millions of requests from users alleging that they did not opt-in to receiving certain content.
Furthermore, companies rely heavily on consumer feedback to develop their marketing, technical, and financial strategies. Since the social media revolution, it has become practical to implement techniques that capture consumer feedback on various online social networks, which can be further used by the companies to improve their products and services.
An opportunity arises to provide users with highly granular privacy controls and present them with information that leads to non-repudiation of their past opt-in actions. An opportunity also arises to make improved business and technology decisions based on feedback directly collected from the consumers. Improved user experience and engagement, higher user satisfaction and retention, and greater sales may result.